Left arrow Barnard.edu
Search All of Barnard.edu
Left arrow Barnard.edu

COVID-19 Vaccine

All Barnard College community members are currently eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine! As of May 14, all individuals 12 years of age and older that reside in the United States are eligible to receive the vaccine in New York. (Note: individuals under 18 can only receive the Pfizer vaccine.) People who live outside of the U.S. but work or study in New York are also eligible to get vaccinated.

The College continues to monitor the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine to our community in accordance with city and state guidelines. On this page you will find information about our vaccine requirements, messages to faculty, staff, and students, New York eligibility updates, information on how to make vaccination appointments in New York, and additional city and state resources about the vaccine.

College Vaccine Requirements

For the safety of all, we strongly encourage all of our community members to get the COVID -19 vaccine as soon as possible. Barnard will begin requiring COVID-19 vaccination for all students, faculty and staff who will be accessing campus. We announced this requirement for students earlier in the spring. On May 14, 2021 Columbia formally announced its decision to require COVID-19 vaccination of all faculty and staff, beginning this fall. Given our role as part of the University community, we believe it is important to move forward with Columbia and require the same.

This requirement will now become part of the Barnard Community Commitment and Personal Responsibility Pledge.

Proof of vaccination or an approved exemption will be required by August 15, 2021 for all faculty staff, and students. Please review the FAQs below for more specific details about this deadline.

Documented medical and religious exemptions will be accommodated via an application process. 

Columbia’s Vaccine Program

To request a dose 1 appointment at one of Columbia University’s vaccination sites, you may email vaccineinfo@columbia.edu with the following details:

  • Name
  • UNI (if you have one)
  • Date of Birth
  • Phone number
  • University email

You will then be contacted by a team member when there is an available dose. Please note that these appointments are available for a first-dose appointment only. The Columbia vaccine program can only administer dose 2 vaccines to those for whom they have administered dose 1. For more ways to find an appointment for a vaccine, please see below.

Please email vaccine@barnard.edu with questions. 

How to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine

Vaccine appointments, previously elusive and hard to come by, have become increasingly more available! 

All NYC-run vaccine sites are now accepting walk-ins of any eligible age. As of April 23, 2021, individuals can get vaccinated at any city-run vaccine site without having to make an appointment. (Minors ages 12 to 15 may also visit the walk-up sites, but should ensure to find a site offering the Pfizer vaccine.) A list of walk-up vaccination sites (and the vaccines they are offering) can be found at NYC.gov and as a downloadable pdf.

To make an appointment, eligible members of the community can fill out the New York state questionnaire to confirm eligibility; once submitted, this form will lead to a list of vaccination locations. Or use the New York City online vaccine schedule hub.

The state and city websites also provide a list of locations for nearby pharmacies and providers that can administer the vaccine to certain New Yorkers. You can also be in touch with our healthcare provider, if you have one; many of them are part of a hospital or other vaccination network and may be able to find you an appointment.

Additionally, NYS and NYC have each launched hotlines which may be used by eligible members of the community to schedule a vaccination appointment:

NYC: (877) VAX-4NYC (1-877-829-4692)

NYS: (833) NYS-4VAX (1-833-697-4829)

Volunteers have also developed several aggregator resources for New Yorkers to find available appointment: Turbovax , NYC Vaccine and Dr. B.

Eligible New Yorkers can also make an appointment at the Armory in Washington Heights.

Eligible Bronx residents can make appointments for vaccination at Yankee Stadium online or by calling 1-833-SomosNY. Please follow the instructions from your vaccination site about what to bring. New York State requires that individuals must bring proof of age. For individuals younger than the age of 18, a parent or legal guardian must provide consent for vaccination. A parent or legal guardian must provide verbal consent either while accompanying the minor to the vaccination appointment, or by phone at the time of the vaccination appointment. If the minor is 12-15 years old, they must arrive with a parent or guardian OR they need to bring another adult caregiver who has a signed designation from the parent or guardian and the parent/guardian must be available by phone.  For eligibility based on age, bring a government-issued ID with your birth date. 

All individuals over the age of 12 residing in the United States may receive the vaccine in New York. For students living on campus who need proof of residency, take the following steps to create a PDF of your housing assignment as an address.

1. Log into Barnard Housing Portal at https://barnard.starrezhousing.com/StarRezPortal

2. Click my.HOUSING on the navigation bar

3. Click Address Verification Letter

Eligibility

Beginning May 12, all U.S. residents, ages 12 or older are eligible to receive the vaccine in New York. People who live outside of the U.S. but work or study in New York are also eligible to get vaccinated.

Time Off for Vaccination

Under a new state law, employees can take paid time off from their regularly scheduled work hours to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Employees may take up to four hours of paid leave at their regular rate of pay for each dose. This time will not be charged against other sick leave entitlement for staff, including New York State Paid COVID-19 Leave.

To use this COVID-19 vaccine leave, staff in TWU Local 264, Local 2110 Access Attendants and 32BJ should let their manager know so that the time can be appropriately entered. For staff who use Timesaver, please enter this time using the new code "BC19 COVID-19 Vaccination."

Reminder to Those Who Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine

Members of the College community who are able to be or already have been vaccinated must continue to comply with all of Barnard’s COVID-19 policies—which include regular testing, social distancing, and the wearing of a face covering at all times—because vaccination does not exempt anyone from College coronavirus protocols implemented in 2020. As more becomes known about the availability and functioning of the vaccine, as well as the vaccination rate in our campus community, relevant College policies will be developed and shared with the community.


Additional COVID-19 Vaccine Resources: 

Vaccine FAQs

COVID-19 vaccination will be required for all Barnard students, faculty, and staff in order to access campus or participate in College events. Full vaccination (defined as 2 weeks having passed since the final dose) is to be completed as soon as possible, but no later than by August 15. Religious and medical exemptions to vaccination will be provided in accordance with New York State public health laws.

Students who are living in international locations with limited accessibility to vaccines may arrive to campus without having been vaccinated. The College can assist those students with information about getting vaccinated as soon as possible once in New York. Given the widespread availability of vaccines in the US, domestic students are required to arrive to campus fully vaccinated (i.e. with 2 weeks having passed since their final dose).

Barnard faculty, staff, and students who are not fully vaccinated, due to either availability issues or exemptions, may be required to comply with additional precautions.

Public health experts, including our own infectious diseases advisors from the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), have identified COVID-19 vaccinations as the key factor in reducing COVID-19 infections and allowing us all to return to a less restricted, more normal way of life. Not only do these vaccines prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19, they also limit the spread of the virus within communities.

Vaccines authorized by the FDA or by the World Health Organization ("WHO") will be acceptable to fulfill this requirement.

Vaccination will not be required for those not accessing campus or participating in any College related activity. However, if a student faculty or staff member is accessing campus or participating in any College-recognized activity, vaccination will be required. Access to Columbia’s campus and facilities also requires compliance with the Barnard vaccination requirement.

Yes. We will accept evidence of vaccination that has received authorization by the World Health Organization. 

No. We strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated wherever they are in order to protect you, your family and community from COVID-19.

All members of the community are strongly urged to get vaccinated as soon as possible, as there may be additional requirements you have to meet if you arrive on campus unvaccinated. Domestic students, staff, and faculty, are expected to complete the vaccination requirement at least 14 days prior to their return to campus but no later than by August 15. Barnard community members will be restricted from accessing campus if they have not complied with the requirement

 

For international students and any faculty and staff who have been unable to get vaccinated in their international location prior to their return to campus, they will be able to get vaccinated at one of the Columbia sites or another vaccination site in New York. They will be able to access Barnard facilities, residences, and classrooms, but may be required to comply with additional precautions until they are fully vaccinated.

We will not be accommodating early move-in or requiring early arrival only for vaccination.

Information for how students, faculty and staff employees can upload evidence of vaccination will soon be available on the COVID-19 vaccine website.

We thank all members of the community who have already voluntarily provided proof of their vaccination. More information will be available soon for all members of the community on how the College will be collecting evidence of compliance with this new requirement.

Students, staff and faculty may request an exemption from the vaccination requirement for specific medical or religious reasons in accordance with New York State public health laws.

Students must complete the Vaccination Planning Survey by June 11 and indicate whether they plan to request a medical or religious exemption. More information will be shared soon.

For students seeking such exemptions, please complete exemption-request forms which will soon be available on the Primary Care Health Services forms page. Students must complete the Vaccination Planning Survey by June 11 and indicate whether they plan to request a medical or religious exemption. More information will be shared soon.

For staff and faculty seeking such exemptions, information will be available soon on the COVID-19 vaccine website. Faculty and staff must submit exemption requests by July 15.

Late submissions will not be expedited and may affect the requestor’s return/access to campus.

 

Your vaccination data will not be shared with others and will only be used to determine access to the campus. It will be stored securely and access will be limited to those who need to track or monitor that information in their role.

 

You will not know who is and who is not vaccinated; however, Barnard faculty, staff, and students will not be allowed on campus unless they have met the vaccine requirement or have received a religious or medical exemption.

If boosters or additional vaccination doses become available and recommended by public health experts, the College will determine whether and when to require boosters for our community. 

 

No. Under a new state law, employees may take up to four hours of paid leave at their regular rate of pay for each dose. This time will not be charged against other sick leave entitlement for staff, including New York State Paid COVID-19 Leave.

To use this COVID-19 vaccine leave, staff in TWU Local 264, Local 2110 Access Attendants, and 32BJ should let their manager know so that the time can be appropriately entered. For staff who use Timesaver, please enter this time using the new code “BC19 COVID-19 Vaccination."

No. At this time the College is planning to resume full operations with classes that are in-person or have a significant in-person component. 

Students who are not vaccinated and do not qualify for a medical or religious exemption should contact their class Dean to discuss their limited options.